The plans have just been published. All eyes on the Home Secretary…
Nearly 90 Tory and LibDem MPs now have joined 233 business leaders in signing an open letter demanding Reeves reverses the planned inheritance tax raid on family-run businesses. They warn the changes to Business Property Relief will put more than 125,000 jobs at risk…
Shadow DEFRA minister Robbie Moore fired off the letter to Reeves this week, backed by 82 MPs and 5 Peers. He said:
“We do not believe that these tax changes align with the Treasury’s overall aim to raise tax revenues and instead represent poor economic policy that will ultimately reduce tax receipts, axe jobs, and weaken the foundations of British business.”
This summer more than 200 family firms wrote to Reeves urging her to rethink the “discriminatory” and “harmful” tax raid. Good luck getting the Chancer of the Exchequer to change her mind…
Read the full letter and list of signatures below:
Countless MPs and elected officials have signed the Guido Taxpayer Protection Pledge:
This pledge is open to officials at all levels and of all parties. It is a guarantee to voters that you will not vote to raid their wallets…
Jolyon has lost again. It’s practically daily now…
The Good Law Project announced yesterday:
“Good Law Project has taken on leading civil society organisations The Bureau for Investigative Journalism and Spotlight on Corruption as clients, as they challenge a decision by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal to hear the “blackmail” case against Christopher Hutchings in private…Good Law Project’s clients will make submissions before the SDT tomorrow to seek to overturn their decision…When solicitors are accused of bad behaviour – particularly behaviour which seeks to silence journalism on important issues – the public must be able to see justice being done.”
The case regards an alleged threat made in a phone call between two solicitors. It is being heard in private to protect the contents of correspondence regarding solicitors’ clients. Jolyon’s application for the case to be heard was summarily dismissed today. The Law Society Gazette reports:
“SDT panel chair Lisa Boyce said: ‘This application is late, there is no reason given for the application being made in between month of the conclusion of the hearing in October and the letter of 17 November.’ Noting that the substantive hearing was nearly finished, Boyce said: ‘We are only hearing closing submissions. It would be contrary to our overriding objective to hear the application at this stage. The application to be heard is refused. We will move to private session.’”
Chin up Jolyon, it’s only November. A few more losses to fit in before Christmas…
Channel Tunnel operator Eurotunnel has cancelled all rail investments in the UK over an incoming hike in business rates. Another self-own from the government…
Chief executive Yann Leriche said the uprated business rates bill from £22 million to £65 million “makes all of our investments lossmaking, so we won’t be making any more investments... As of today, we have frozen our investment in rail assets in the UK.” It was due to spend £15 million building a freight terminal and launching a new freight service from Lille…
Business rate costs are passed on to consumers. Eurostar says that “a three-fold increase in business rates for Channel Tunnel users for the second time would be at odds with the government’s ambition of economic growth, pioneering European rail connectivity, and encouraging low-carbon rail travel.” Who in their right mind would invest in these conditions…
Starmer and Reeves have hit a new low in the polls…again. YouGov’s weekly favourability tracker has Starmer on -54 net favourability, while Reeves is on -57. That’s a worse favourability rating for Reeves than Kwasi Kwarteng had after the mini-budget…
Boris’ net favourability rating was -53 on the day he resigned. Among Labour voters, 52% see Starmer negatively and 57% see Reeves negatively. Meanwhile, both Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch are both on -32. Budget day is less than a week away…
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”